2026 ACADEMIC ELITE TEAM OF MMSST – Part 1
MEET OUR STUDENT/ATHLETES OFF OF THE SNOW!!
To qualify for the MMCF Academic Elite Team, athletes must maintain a minimum 3.5 GPA while actively competing with MMSST or the Mammoth Nordic Team. As part of the application process, candidates submit an original essay. Given the inspiring, insightful, and engaging nature of these submissions, we are thrilled—with the authors' permission—to share them with our MMCF family.
The essay prompts are age appropriate and are:
Elementary School Students
Write about a community helper (e.g., firefighter, teacher, doctor). Explain what they do and why their job is important.
If you could visit any time in the past for one day, where would you go and what would you see?
Middle School Students
Describe someone who has had a major influence on your life. Share a true story that highlights their impact.
You show up to school on a Monday morning, and there are absolutely no adults on campus. What happens next?
High School Students
Select a historical figure who made a controversial decision and argue the validity of their choices based on the context of their time.
Explain the role empathy plays in modern leadership compared to strictly business-driven decision-making.
A prompt from last year: Should everyone go to college?
GUNNAR GUTHRIE - 5th GRADE
Write about a community helper. Explain what they do and why their job is important.
Ski Patrollers: Superheroes of the Mountains:
Did you know that ski patrollers work hard every day to protect people who ski and snowboard? Some would even call them superheroes of the mountains. Ski patrollers have a very important job that requires a lot of training and skills. Without ski patrol, mountains would be closed for skiing and snowboarding.
Ski patrollers have many responsibilities. They have to wake up early in the morning to prepare the mountain by doing avalanche control. This requires them to recognize dangerous areas on the mountain to help keep people safe. Ski patrollers need to have strong skiing skills and be trained to help people in poor weather. They also need to have first aid training. At the end of the day, the ski patrollers take a sweep of the mountain to make sure nobody is left behind.
Ski patrol has a lot of positive impact on the community. For example, when people have injuries on the mountain, ski patrollers come help them. A few years ago, I broke my leg while skiing and a ski patroller helped me down the mountain in a sled and brought me to the first aid station. From there, I went to the hospital where they put my broken leg in a cast. If the ski patrol wasn't around, getting down the mountain would have been very challenging for me and my dad. Thankfully, the ski patrollers saved me like a superhero would.
Overall, ski patrollers are very important community helpers. They help people by surveying the mountain for dangerous areas, providing first aid when they're hurt, and are trained to help in any weather conditions. They are the superheroes of the mountains.
PARKER LIPANA - 6th GRADE
Describe someone who has had a major influence on your life. Share a true story that highlights their impact.
Someone who has or still has a big influence on my life is my mom. She has helped me so much throughout the school year and in skiing and has worked so hard for me. One true story is that when I was at my first ski race, I was really scared. It was a combi course, and I got disqualified on the first day, but my mom cheered me up for the second day. On the second day I didn't disqualify but a lot of kids did. They all got disqualified because there was a blue gate hidden in the shade, but I saw it. I ended up getting third place, and I was really happy. If it weren't for my mom I wouldn't have gone to the race, I wouldn't have gotten third place, and I actually wouldn’t have had fun doing training.
My mom taught me how to persevere even when I am mad or sad. She did this by teaching me how to take deep breaths, helping me calm down, and she shows me how to be calm in the face of fear. My mom is a veterinarian and I have watched her calmly take care of emergencies with animals. Watching her be calm with terrified animals and owners, has given me the courage to tackle my own fears. I am proud to be her son and hope to show her how much she has helped me. I am thankful for her mentorship towards skiing and fear.
LOGAN DIFLEY - 8th GRADE
Describe someone who has had a major influence on your life. Share a true story that highlights their impact.
There are many influential people in my life, but one unique influential person is my drum teacher Brian. When I first started drum lessons, our lessons had to be online because of COVID. This was very challenging because Brian could not see all of my drums and the delay through the phone made it tricky for him to know if I was keeping on the beat. There were times when I thought about quitting because it was too hard, but Brian taught me how to push through challenges and continue forward. Then he would give me suggestions and soon I was playing the right rhythm and feeling much happier. After Covid, it was much easier because I finally got to meet him and it was easier to work through problems in person.
Another example of how Brian helped me was when I had trouble learning a difficult fill in the song "Judith." Seeing my struggles, Brian recommended practicing each section separately using different speeds for each one. This method showed me to tackle complex pieces by breaking them up or slowing them down to learn them thoroughly. It also taught me patience since this process took more time. My favorite part came when I could finally play the entire hard section all the way through. Then both of us celebrated!
Before I met Brian, the only songs I heard were the rock songs that my parents played. When learning drums, I started with rock songs like "Back in Black" and "Beverly Hills". Over time he introduced me to other types of music so that I would learn additional drum techniques. Thanks to Brian, I learned that keeping my mind open to new music is more enjoyable and interesting than just listening to one type. He also suggested that I go with him to hear a professional jazz fusion drummer named Andy Prado play at a famous jazz club called the Baked Potato in Hollywood. I felt really lucky because I got to sit right next to the drummer and see him play up close! Andy impressed me with his ability to improvise while still making the music sound good with the rest of the band.
Brian taught me some very important life lessons from drum lessons: focusing on smaller skills to work up to harder skills, keeping an open mind about new things, and pushing through difficulties instead of giving up. All of Brian's lessons also apply to skiing, my other passion. In skiing, there were times when I was frustrated over my poor race results. Remembering Brian's advice that pushing through challenges pays off. Initially, I was bored by some skiing drills. However, when I tried them, I realized they were very helpful in learning new ski skills. This reinforced how Brian taught me to keep an open mind to new things. Using Brian's lessons throughout all parts of my life has turned my setbacks into successes and has led me to how I am today.
ASHLEY BIEN - 10th GRADE
A prompt from last year: Should everyone go to college?
I strongly believe that not everyone needs to go to college. If someone doesn't want to go to college I believe that that is their decision. College is also incredibly expensive and could possibly put financial strain on the student's family or even the student themselves. If a student doesn't want to go to college and has financial strain on them due to college fees that is incredibly unfair. I have many friends who don't want to get a college education and think it would be more beneficial for them to get a job that doesn't require a college degree and just start working to make money.
College doesn’t necessarily guarantee success and I think that is important to remember. No one is guaranteed to succeed right after they finish college, most people have to work incredibly hard in order to become successful. Even when you work hard it could take years in order to become successful and live the life of your dreams. Even after years of hard work and dedication there are people who never found success.
People can also start college and then decide that they don't want to finish and drop out. I don't necessarily think this is a good idea but it’s an option. I think if you're going to college you should finish and get a degree. A person could change their major as many times as they want but I think they should stay in college if they start it. Someone can also change the college they choose if they don't like it or if the college doesn't offer what they would like to major in.
All in all, I strongly believe that college is a personal preference. Some people don't want to spend their first years of life out of school in their student debut trying to pay off college. College can or can not guarantee success for most people. College is also a place for learning what you want to do in the future and who you are as a person. College is a great life experience but not everyone needs to attend college.
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